Today is NOT That Day!

Several years ago, a friend of ours who was battling to learn the Russian language gave a tongue-in-cheek speech that mimicked Aragorn’s from the last battle in the movie, “The Lord of the Rings.”  I remember one line went something like this,

“There will come a day when you will be able to rise up and correctly conjugate Russian verbs, but TODAY is NOT that day!”

We laughed really hard back then, and I think of it often now, as the Chinese language threatens to defeat us. One of the challenges we face is the fact that the Chinese language makes use of a unique set of idioms that have been around for centuries.  Always made up of four characters, at least 5,000 of these “Cheng Du,” exist, and many are still commonly used today. For example:

•   入乡随俗 “Enter village follow custom,” is the Chinese equivalent of, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
• 平清平做 “Equal rise equal sit,” means to be on an equal footing with someone. We came across this one as we were studying an “easy to read” translation of the Bible. When the Pharisees are persecuting Jesus for claiming equality with God, they do so because he both called God his Father and because “He with God level rise, level sit.”
• 亡羊补牢 “Lost sheep mend fold,” essentially means, “Better late than never,” in that it’s not too late to mend the fence even after the sheep is lost.
• And finally, a more modern idiom (not a ChengDu) that really makes me laugh: 他朝我的鱿鱼 “He fried my squid.”  Translation: “He fired me from my job.”  

So, my Chinese blessing for you today: May you with your colleagues equal rise equal sit, and may your squid never be fried!

Photo update:

Kids chemistry project presentations.

We helped plan a wedding in just one week, and hosted it in our apartment last Saturday, proving once again that when you live in China, you have to be ready for anything!  

 I heard today that Paris is also battling severe smog lately, so perhaps some très chic face mask fashions will emerge... For now, these are my choices.

I enjoy going for walks with my friend on days when no masks are needed, like the day pictured below. Spring has arrived in Beijing! Yesterday I saw the first fruit trees blossoming in Olympic Park.